There exists a valuable piece of data about radioactive iodine in the early days of the accident. It is the record of measuring leafy vegetables taken near Fukushima Medical University [located just south of Fukushima City center] on March 15 (three days after the explosion [of Reactor 1]). The handwritten data by the prefectural government shows 1.19 million becquerels/kg of radioactive iodine.

当時医大で医師・看護師などに「安定ヨウ素剤」を配ったのも頷けるデータだ。しかし、私たちにはそうしたデータが公表されることはなかった。

Looking at this number, it is understandable that Fukushima Medical University distributed potassium iodide pills to doctors and nurses. However, this data was never disclosed to us.

In January this year, I served as a panelist in a human rights forum sponsored by the Ministry of Justice called "March 11, 2011 disaster and human rights", and I talked about this fact. However, the sponsor called me later and said they would like to delete my comments from the report.

Officials at Fukushima Medical University had raised issues with the sponsor by saying "It [distributing potassium iodide pills] was our vested interest as medical professionals, and there should be no problem with that."

I protested and said, "For argument's sake let's assume it is true. But there were people at that time working hard day and night for weeks on end, literally without sleep and food, in order to restore life lines after the earthquake while a large amount of radioactive materials were falling on them. Why didn't they get the pills? Why didn't they have vested interest?" One hour later, they called me back and said my comments wouldn't be deleted, and would be recorded as they were. It was clear that [the University's argument] was discrimination based on occupation.

Mr. Abe is the one who decided to use his temple to store contaminated soil removed from people's homes, three months after the start of the accident.

On March 15, 2011, I remember reading about people in Fukushima, particularly in Fukushima City, standing outside in long lines in the snow for a long time to get some drinking water, with mothers and fathers taking their kids with them.

Reactor 3 building blew up at 11AM on the previous day, March 14. They were trying to vent Reactor 2 all night and early morning of March 15. Reactor 4 building managed to blow up (no one knows how) in the early morning of March 15, and at about the same time some event did happen in Reactor 2's Suppression Chamber.

On March 16, 2011, I was screaming about the first evacuee death due to lack of water, heat, and food, while the official depots were swimming with foods, water and blankets and clothes from people from all over the world.

Hardly anyone was reading my blog then, but I had to write to keep some sanity. It still feels like only yesterday.

6
comments:

Anonymous
said...

Thank you for sharing this.I didn't read your blog then, although I found it very soon.My wife and a number of our friends and business partners are Japanese; after the traumatic images of the tsunami it became known one plant was on fire. Then the explosions, one after another. As Europeans, we've learned that the impossible can happen, be very bad even 1000 km away from Tchernobyl, and blaming poor Soviet technology doesn't help.Right since the explosions, no-one around me here to think it wasn't a Tchernobyl-level event, a thing that amazed some Japanese people in Japan, when I told them this later.And even worse : a Tchernobyl + a Minamata event.This I had no opportunity to tell them about.We go to Japan quite often, but always at the same times of the year, and I had never seen the cherry blossoms, nor had my wife for dozens of years. We had planned a trip to Japan, as an exception, two weeks in March-April.We had a narow-escape from divorce, and went to Japan. Sakurami with hanabi. It was so stressing that I started a blog about what was happening there. Part to give news to some people around ( some of whom guessed I was writing it ) and part, as you have, to protect my mind.

Right after the accident news were somewhat reassuring (experts saying that radiation decreases with inverse square of distance so not a big problem). However the same news stations evacuated their reporters from the Fukushima area and this was not in the news.These doctors took iodine pills but it was not in the news.The families of military personnel in Yokosuka were evacuated but it was not in the news.In a worst case scenario the evacuation of Tokyo might have been necessary but it was not in the news.Now it is in the news but still people vote LDP so that a group of 90 of its politicians can say that they want to assess whether NRA "demands" have a scientific basis. What can I say? for heaven's sake do not restart those nuclear clunkers... it is now proven that they can't withstand earthquakes and we have already been lucky enough with Fukushima.Beppe

Beppe, those pieces of news you mentioned WERE in the news, but not this one about Fukushima Medical University.

I've heard worse rumors (i.e. unsubstantiated) last year, that central government ministries in Kasumigaseki in Tokyo ordered the ventilation stopped and windows closed in their buildings right before the radioactive plume hit Tokyo on March 15. Government workers were told not to go outside.

@1:01 right, but they were in the news long AFTER the fact; at that point in time their value is close to nil.

Rumors about the folks in Kasumigaseki doing the minimum to protect themselves are quite plausible: on Sat. March 12th 2011 the Swiss consulate advised families with children to leave Tokyo. The moment a npp loses its ability to cool the reactor you do not want to just wait and see and this is pretty obvious to anyone owning a minimum of background information on nuclear "technology".

@2:25 my impression is that greed (cost cutting) played a larger role than incompetence at Fukushima. Same goes for San Onofre: their greed for more steam (= more dollars) led to the plant decommissioning; apparently incompetence was there too (incorrect design simulations) but seekng more power output and hiding design changes are driven by greed.

1) Fukushima is 1 million USSRs Tjernobyl. 2) Prov in the Kina, Kanada, USA, Australia and Ryssland (different between "Before" and "efter" Fukushima in the watter bk/m3 off Pacific Oceanen on the beach X m3 watter in the Pacific oceanen).

About my coverage of Japan Earthquake of March 11

I am Japanese, and I not only read Japanese news sources for information on earthquake and the Fukushima Nuke Plant but also watch press conferences via the Internet when I can and summarize my findings, adding my observations.

About This Site

Well, this was, until March 11, 2011. Now it is taken over by the events in Japan, first earthquake and tsunami but quickly by the nuke reactor accident. It continues to be a one-person (me) blog, and I haven't even managed to update the sidebars after 5 months... Thanks for coming, spread the word.------------------This is an aggregator site of blogs coming out of SKF (double-short financials ETF) message board at Yahoo.

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